1. Technical Field
This invention relates to locating and actuating systems and, more particularly, to a multifunctional locating and actuating system for locating objects and actuating door locks.
2. Prior Art
Consumer electronic devices such as TVs, VCRs, and satellite receivers have optional remote controls which are separate from the major device and other articles such as keys, glasses, articles of clothing and generally items which are hand carried by a person are prone to misplacement. Often, while not lost, the items are concealed by furniture or other objects, or simply placed in an unusual location where the owner has difficulty in locating them.
It can be bothersome and time consuming when at home to search for items such as keys, wallets, remote controls etc. that have been mislaid. In addition, at business locations such as offices, warehouses and the like, many valuable employee hours are lost each year searching for mislaid files, equipment, merchandise and the like. It would be a benefit, therefore, to have a system for locating these articles that included a number of receiver units that would each be attached to an article and a transmitter that activated any particular receiver causing the activated receiver to generate an audible and/or a visual output to aid in locating the article to which the receiver unit was attached.
Numerous innovations for an item locator with an attachable receiver/transmitter have been provided in the prior art. By way of example, the prior art discloses a locator mechanism for assisting and locating an object that includes a hand held searcher including a short range signal transmitter. Another example discloses a mechanism for locating a remote control device, wherein the device is hard wired into the circuitry of the appliance. Although the above noted devices are sufficient in their intended purposes they still have many obvious shortcomings.
One disadvantage of such devices is the lack of providing a light source that can aid a user in searching for lost items, as well as general use of the light source as a flashlight. The prior art device all consist of units that are separate from items such as car door and garage door openers, thus a user is required to carry multiple units in order to open those doors as well as the locator unit. This can become burdensome and discourage use of the device. The prior art devices are not user friendly and are relatively expensive to produce, which unfortunately causes those production costs to be incurred onto the consumer.
Accordingly, a need remains for a multifunctional locating and actuating system in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a multifunctional locating and actuating system that is convenient and easy to use, provides considerable time savings, and is versatile and compact in design. Such a system advantageously ends the frustration associated with misplacing a set of keys or other items, such as remote controls. The system also serves as a convenient remote car and garage door opener, thus eliminating the need to carry individual units for those purposes. Such a system also includes an easily operated flashlight that facilitates a user in finding a house or car door key hole in the dark.